


The 12 Step Job

by LesbianLover121



Series: Leverage Remix [4]
Category: Leverage, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Thieves, Attempt at Humor, Episode Remix, F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24896608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LesbianLover121/pseuds/LesbianLover121
Summary: The team targets an investment broker, Jack Hurley, who swindled a charity. To discover where the money is hidden, they trick the alcoholic financier into entering the Second Act Rehabilitation Center. There, they learn their mark is not the terrible person he at first appeared and that rehab may be exactly the place one of them (David) needs to be.Part 4 of the Leverage Remix. Don't have to read the others to understand this one however it is highly recommended.Disclaimer: I do not own the characters ABC does, I don't own the Leverage Plotline either I just borrowed it.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Series: Leverage Remix [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736506
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	1. Finding the Mark

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for all the love, you guys. Here is the next "episode". I'll try to update consistently.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters ABC does, I don't own the Leverage Plotline either I just borrowed it.

Driving down the streets of Los Angeles in a black 2015 Ford Explorer is Jack Hurley. Jack Hurley, a heavy set white male with brown eyes and curly dark brown hair, is using his burrito as a drumstick against his steering wheel. Hurley hums along to the Irish sounding band playing on the radio while chugging a large drink from Taco Bell. At a red light, Hurley alternates between eating his Beefy 5 Layer Burrito and tapping along with the beat of the song. Finally, Hurley arrives at his job at McTeague Capital Investments. Hurley gives himself a quick look over in his side-view mirror and winks at the fat face covered in a dark stubble reflected in the mirror. Once inside Hurley stops a man walking by him,

“Hey JP tells the boss I’m going long on oil.” Without waiting for a response Hurley unbuttons his black blazer revealing a tan dress shirt and matching tie. Still heading for his office, Hurley hums the song he was jamming along within the car. Right before Hurley walks into his office he is stopped by his assistant, Pam. Pam is in her mid-40s with shoulder-length brunette hair. 

“Jack-”

“Hey Pam, listen, you have to help me. There was this song on the radio it’s stuck in my head.” Hurley begins to hum the song for Pam

“Jack I need to talk to you” interrupts Pam

“What?” asks Hurley

Pam tilts her head toward Hurley's office. On the couch in Hurley's office sits an African American woman sobbing. Men in suits are looking through boxes of files and Hurley's computer. 

“I had to show them everything,” admits Pam

Hurley looks on in shock, his mouth held open before turning around and sprinting down the hallway and around the corner towards the parking lot, knocking over the mail guy on the way out of the door.

Later that day across town at Leverage headquarters the African-American woman, Michelle Colby, is sitting on the other side of David’s desk talking to David and Snow. David is wearing a navy blue long-sleeved button-down and black slacks.

“Have you told anyone what happened?” asks David

“Not even my board of directors,” replies Ms. Colby “Mr. Nolan, those donations were my responsibility, I could go to jail.”

“No, that’s not going to happen,” assures David “Tell us about your money manager.” prompts David before taking a deep sip from a Sprite can. Snow eyes can skeptically from where she is standing behind the chairs Ms. Colby is currently occupying. Snow is wearing a white long-sleeve button-down with a red and black sweater vest covering the white shirt and black skinny jeans with red bottom Louboutins to complete the outfit. 

“His name is Jack Hurley and he works for one of the biggest firms in town. He said that with the right investments he could grow our money,”

David chuckles to himself. 

“He was enthusiastic and sweet, like a big kid. I did my homework he checked out.”

“So, when did you realize things had gone wrong?” asks Snow

“We’re breaking ground next week on a new food pantry and I need to write some checks,” says Ms. COlby turned around to look at Snow. “Jacks have been ducking my calls so I contacted his boss and he told me they didn’t even have a record of me having an account there. How is that possible?” asks Ms. Colby as she is close to tears.

David puts down the Sprite he just took another long sip from and says, “It isn’t. The company is falsifying its records so it’s not on the hook for Hurley's embezzlement.”

“Classy” adds Snow, sarcasm lacing her words.

“It happens all the time.”

“People trusted me with this money,” says Ms. Colby

“And you trusted Jack Hurley. Michelle, this isn’t your fault. Important for you to know that.”

David gets up and begins to walk Ms. Colby out of the office.

While David is finishing off the last of his Sprite Ms. Colby asks, “Please don’t take this the wrong way. After what happened with Jack I have to ask. Why do you do this?”

Finally reaching the front door David places his can on the front desk, stops, and turns to look at Ms. Colby.

“Same reason you do,” says David before opening the door.

Ms. Colby just smiles and leaves. David turns to head back to his office and passes Snow. Snow picks up the discarded Sprite can and takes a sniff, the smell of scotch hits her nose.

“Bit early for that isn’t it?” asks Snow

David turns around, “What-What’s that? Oh,”

David sees what Snow has in her hand.

“What does that matter? What does that matter? What matters is that this nice young woman runs a food bank and we’re going to keep her out of prison, that's what matters. Look at this guy,” David throws the empty Sprite can into a nearby trash can. “Is probably halfway around the world already. Let’s go.” David turns and heads towards the conference room. Snow follows behind.

“She has all the company's monthly statements. Why doesn’t she just sue the firm?” asks Mulan walking into the conference room from her office down the hall.

“Have fun with your seven-year lawsuit, up against a wall street firm with a pro bono mall lawyer. Yeah, see how well that turns out. We have to find this Jack Hurley,” answers David.

“Jack Hurley, a money manager for McTeague Capital Investments. Single, no criminal record. He owns a condo in Marina,” says Regina from her seat where she sits with her laptop. 

“Last seen peeling out of the company driveway yesterday. Where is he?” asks David

“I can tell you where he's not. In my world. He’s not on the grid. No online noise at all,” replies Regina. 

“He’s probably liquidated the company’s money into cash,” says Snow from her seat in between David and Emma. 

“Alright if that’s the case then it’s going to be burning a hole in his pocket,” adds Mulan who is pacing behind Regina’s seat.

“Okay, well, so we don’t know where he is. We have to figure out where he’s been,” concludes David

Regina quickly pulls up and displays Hurley’s credit card statement. “Here’s his last credit-card statement before he disappeared. Uh, bar, bar, strip club, taco stand. Wow, I didn’t know they took plastic. Asian Massage, bar, wing spot, pay-per-view. This is all Sunday.” 

“All right, well any patterns with his movements?” asks Mulan.

Regina quickly pings all the locations on a map and displays it on the screens. “Does this look like a pattern to you?” 

“It’s like tracking Peter from ‘Family Guy’ when he fights with the giant chicken,” comments Emma. Mulan rolls her eyes while Regina chuckles and whispers toward Emma that she loves that show.

“We’re assuming this guy’s still in Los Angeles.” interrupts Snow. “You said yourself David that he could be halfway across the globe.”

“No his passport wasn’t dinged he’s still in the states,” says Regina

“Oh, well, that narrows it down,” says Emma sarcastically

“Actually it does,” says David before standing and walking towards the picture of Hurley displayed on the screen. 

"He’s an addict, under stress. He’s gonna stay well within his comfort zone. He’s still in L.A. Oh yeah.”

David turns around and addresses the team. “We’re going to do this the old fashioned way. Swam, you break into his condo, see what you can find. Snow and I will hit the retail spots. Mulan and Regina go to his favorite haunts but don’t spook him. Just follow him let him lead us to the money.” 

Emma walks away to her office to grab her lock picking kit and car keys. Mulan and Regina turn to leave when Mulan whispers to Regina “Strip joint.”

Regina clears her throat and turns around. “I’m going to need change for a hundred…. In singles.”

“I’m sorry. What? You think I have 100 singles on me?” asks David

Snow rolls her eyes while Mulan and Regina just turn and leave.

**[Later on the day]**

Mulan and Regina pull up outside an average size bar. From inside Mulan’s’ silver 2019 Nissan Titan. 

“Bar number twelve,” says Mulan.

“You see this place,” says Regina while gesturing to the bar. “He’s not exactly a velvet rope kind of guy.” 

“No he’s not,” agrees Mulan. “I want another look at this guy,” says Mulan while looking through the files she and Regina brought from the office. Meanwhile, Regina’s 32-ounce blue raspberry slushie has spilled into the passenger side floor.

“Don’t get mad, but I may have spilled slushy in your car,” says Regina

Mulan looks down and begins to yell “That’s like 44 ounces, Regina!”

“It’s not that much I only bought a 32 ounce,” interrupts Regina

“The lid is floating in the damn floorboard! It’s running into the back seat!” continues Mulan.

“You’re being very dramatic,” says Regina

“When we get back to the office you’re cleaning this up-”

“That’s our guys right there,” says Regina as she looks up and spots Hurley walking out of the bar with an average height woman who is wearing black leather cowboy boots, a jean mini skirt, and a black tank top.

“Don’t try to change the subject”

“No, look that’s our guys,” repeats Regina. Mulan looks up and sees Hurley too.

“All right, David we’ve got Hurley at location number 12. Meet u here to pursue,” says Mulan over coms.

“This dude, did you see him try to force his keys onto the girl.”

“Yeah, it should be the other way around. Oh, I’m sorry I forgot. You don’t know anything about that,” sasses Mulan

“Really?” deadpans Regina “I almost had it in me to wash the car. Almost.”

“Ten bucks says you’re washing the car. I guarantee-” Mulan stops mid-sentence when she sees a black car pull up behind where Hurley is sitting in the bar parking lot.

Hurley backs into the black car. Three Latinx men in black and grey suits get out of the car. The biggest of the three men in a grey suit yanks Hurley out of the car and slams him against the side gripping him by his suit lapels. 

“That is not how you exchange insurance information,” quips Regina before she and Mulan get out of the Silver Nissan. 

A second Latinx man with a black suit and ponytail has grabbed Hurley with the bald black suit man on the other side. 

“You thought we wouldn’t find you? Where is my money,” asks the smalls of the three men who have curly short hair.

Ponytail guy punches Hurley in the stomach. Hurley keels over in pain. Mulan sprints over and grabs the smallest of the three men and throws his toward Regina. Regina struggles with the man but uses her height advantage to hold him in a headlock. Ponytail guy pulls out the gun that was sitting on his waist but Mulan smacks it out of his hand and elbows him in the neck. He goes down. Meanwhile, the short man has broken from Regina’s hold and lands one blow to her ribs. Regina quickly counters with a left jab and right hook to the jaw. Mulan has made her way to the biggest man and with a series of quick counters and an hard elbow to the jaw, the man falls. During the commotion, Hurley gets into his forest green 2010 Toyota Camry and pulls forward out of the parking spot. Hurley comes back around to drive through where Mulan and Regina are fighting the three Latinx men. Everybody quickly dives out of the way. Regina is the first to recover and picks up the knocked away gun. 

“I’ve got a gun,” says Regina holding the pistol above her head.

The three men, one behind the two in front of them begin to back away with their hands up. Regina brings the gun out in front of her body and fires two shots into the car. The Latinx men groan in unison. "Not the car," says one. Mulan quickly grabs Regina and leads her to the car.  
  


“Nice job blowing out the engine block,” compliments Mulan

“I was aiming for his leg,” admits Regina.

“Give me the gun Regina,” says Mulan snatching the pistol away from Regina.

“David we lost Hurley,” says Mulan over coms

“Don’t worry. We found him. He’s around the corner from you on Cyprus,” responds David.

Mulan and Regina load into the truck and meet David on Cyprus street to see Hurley has run into a pole. The team crowds the windows.

“Is he sleeping?” asks Snow.

“It could be a concussion,” adds Regina

“No, I’ve had concussions before. You don’t snore.”

Emma pops up from the backseat in wearing the red flannel over a black undershirt with blue jeans and red chucks. “No sign of the money in the car.” 

“Wake his ass up then, I’ll find out where it’s at in five minutes,” says Mulan.

“Yeah, and what are we going to do while he sends you on a wild goose chase, huh? Tie him to a chair? No thanks I’m not adding kidnapping to my list of crimes,” says David.

“Well what do we do?” asks Emma climbing out of the car when the team start to hear police and ambulance sirens

“We have to be smart about this. Let’s run a game on him.”

“Run a game? In five minutes he’s going to be in county lockup and we’ll never get near him,” says Snow

“No, the cops aren’t going to lock him up.. Jack Hurley is going to lock himself up,” says David before walking to where he parked his car. The team makes eye contact with each other before walking to their own rides.


	2. Second Act Rehabilitation Center

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the Leverage plot line or the OUAT characters. I just put them all together.

Jack Hurley jolts awake drenched in sweat. Hurley blinks the sleep out of his eyes, sits up, and takes a look at his surroundings. He sees a small room with basic paintings hung up and blue paint on the wall. Hurley is laying on a twin-sized bed with an identical bed to his left with a nightstand separating the two beds. 

“Where am I?” asks Hurley. “The last thing I remember, I was in my car. I could swear I hit something.”

David chuckles from the lounge chair he is sitting in across the room. “Oh, you hit something alright...” David takes a sip out of his coffee cup. “A little thing called rock bottom.” David gets up and sits on the other bed facing Hurley. “Welcome to Rehab.”

Jack Hurley throws himself back into his pillow with an exasperated sigh. “Oh, my God.”

Outside in the reception area of Second Act Rehabilitation Center Dr. Frank, the leading psychiatrist, reads out Snow's fake resume. “Graduate of Cambridge Medical School, winner of the Millworth Fellowship for Addictional Therapy and Research. Doctor Tanner, it’s not every day we get someone of your stature at this facility.”

“Well, one can not stay locked in the ivory tower of academia forever, doctor. I’m ready to get my hands dirty again,” says Snow

Dr. Frank turns and leads Snow down the hallway. “The Second Act doesn’t attend to the rich and famous. It’s not about status here. The idea is that we’re all equal. So the first thing we do is take away all their ties to the outside world; cellphones, tablets, even their clothes.”

“Breaking the cycle, I agree. Very important.”

“Well Dr. Tanner, this is our day room,” says Dr. Frank gestured to the closed doors to his right. “Ready to get your hands dirty?”

Snow walks into the room without giving an answer. The “Day Room” could double as a study or library. Bookshelves line a far wall. Lamps and armchairs are scattered throughout the room. Snow’s attention is drawn to the circle of people sitting in chairs in the center of the room. 

“Hell. I’m Dr. Tanner. I’m going to be leading this group.” Snow takes a seat in the only other empty chair in the circle. “Before we get started why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourselves and tell us why you’re here.”

The thin dark-haired teenager to Snows’ left speaks up while playing with strands of her hair. Her voice is very monotone and flat. “Um, I’m Marcy. I’m here because my mother’s a controlling bitch, basically.”

Snow blinks in surprise, “Huh, Candor. That’s a good start, Marcy.”

A tall older man with hair that resembles Doc from Back to the Future is sitting directly to Snows’ right. He begins to speak but only mumbles incomprehensibly. Snow just nods in response. Emma is sitting in the chair next to the old man. Her blonde curls are trapped in a ponytail and she is in the Second Act patient uniform. 

“Hi. My name is Rose. I’m a kleptomaniac. My parents are rich but I shoplift anyway…” Emma tails off and takes a peek at what is written on her arm. “Oh, and I hate myself.”

“Okay, Rose, next time why not share that with the group and not the floor? Eye contact is the bridge to effective communication. Right, who’s next?” says Snow with a grin

David is sitting next to Emma also in the Second Act patient uniform. “Uh, yeah, I’m Tom and I like to drink.”

Jack lifts his head from his hands and says “Hi I’m Jack and I’m an alcoholic.”

“That’s great Jack but why don’t we go back to-”

“And Nicotine. The patches, not the cigarettes,” interrupts Hurley.

“Okay,” says Snow 

“Internet Porn, non-internet… well, porn, basically. Also compulsive gambling, compulsive lying, compulsive eating. Tacos. I have a BIG taco problem. I think it all stems from my stint as an operative of the CIA in Beirut. Not the tacos, the drinking part. But I tell you something somehow in my drunken stupor last night, I stumbled in here and checked myself in. Apparently. So I guess that means I hit rock bottom.”

“Uh-huh, splendid, Jack. That was very brave. Why don’t we go back to Tom here.”

“Me? No, go to Christopher Loyd over there. Why me?” asks David.

“You said you liked to drink but you never characterized it as a problem,” says Snow

“It’s not a problem. Drinking relaxes me and helps me focus,” argues David

“Oh, I see. So you like to medicate yourself with alcohol, is that it?” asks Snow

Emma throws her head back and takes a deep sigh. 

“So that’s what this is. Tell me, doctor do you know what the definition of ‘addiction’ is? Any compulsive behavior that has a negative impact on your life. So I guess we could say that those $1,500 boots that you’re wearing are an addition.”

Emma looks at David and mentally admits that he has a point.

“Well I haven’t heard any complaints,” says Snow before recrossing her legs and showing more of her skin in the dress she’s wearing. 

The Doc Brown looking old man begins to mumble and gesture towards Snow’s boots.

“Thank you, Sam,” says Snow “But I don’t think that Tom here has actually answered my question.”

Emma quickly looks back and David.

“Yeah, well we can talk about my drinking problem or we could talk about your boot problem. Or we could talk about Jack here who has a real legitimate problem here. He has blackouts. Isn’t that why we are here Dr. Tanner?” asks David sarcastically.

“Fine,” concedes Snow. “Tell us about it, Jack.”

“It’s bad. I don’t even remember where I parked my car yesterday,” says Jack

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I overheard the orderlies say that you totaled it,” admits David

“No that wasn’t my car. I parked my car somewhere downtown and I had the receipt in my-- in my pocket. And I really need to find that.”

David and Emma make eye contact. 

“Okay, good. That was-- that was a good start. Does anybody have anything else they’d like to ask?”

“$1500 bucks for boots? You got ripped off lady,” quips Marcy

The group breaks up and Emma starts to make her way to the storage room. After a quick check around for people, Emma pulls out a safety pin, unfolds the end and unlocks the storage room door. One inside Emma checks all the boxes on the shelves. 

“Hurley, Hurley, Hurley,” she mumbles to herself. Once finding the box Emma was looking for she dumps the contents on the nearest flat surface. Emma empties the pockets of Hurley's pants pulling out hard candy and car keys. Emma pockets the car keys and reaches for Hurley's wallet. Opening the money pocket of the wallet Emma spots the receipt Hurley was talking about earlier. Emma takes the receipt, puts everything back in the box, and places the box back on the shelf. After checking for incoming people through a crack in the door Emma exits the storage room.

“Oh there you are Rose,” says Dr. Frank. “We were looking for you, it's time to take your medicine.”

“Medicine? What are you talking about?” asks Emma.

“Well you’ve been diagnosed with kleptomania and in addition to talk therapy there’s a drug protocol,” explains Dr. Frank.

“No--I, uh don’t do drugs.”

“It’s not doing drugs, Rose. Antidepressants are taken by 25 million American’s every day to treat a variety of behavioral disorders. It’s perfectly safe.” Dr, Frank shakes the mini cup that has pills in it. 

Emma begrudgingly consumes the pills. 

**[Later on in a downtown parking garage]**

Mulan and Regina walk down the rows of cars at a downtown parking garage. Regina holds up the keys and continues to hit the lock button. 

“Talk to me baby,” says Regina.

The car beeps from across the lot. Mulan and Regina open the driver's side door and are assaulted by the smell of old food and stale booze. Regina climbs into the car and moves to her seatback. 

“Hurley’s a big guy right?” asks Mulan.

“Yeah”

“So is the parking attendant. Why was the seat so far forward?”

“I think I can pop the trunk without starting the car.”

“Somebody’s been in the car.” Mulan lays down on the ground flat on her stomach. After looking underneath the car Mulan see’s a bomb placed underneath the driver's seat. Mulan stands up and says, “Yeah there’s a bomb.”

“What? A--what?” asks Regina

“Listen,” starts Mulan. Regina tries to exit the car but Mulan keeps her in the seat. 

“No, stay, stay, stay!” yells Mulan. 

“Move, move”

“Listen to me Mills. The bomb is right underneath the seat that means it’s gotta be pressure sensitive. If you move this thing is going to go off so chill.”

“Pressure-sensitive? Are you sure? Okay pressure, pressure. Okay, Mulan go get a bag of bricks and you can put it on the seat as I roll out.”

“That only works in the movies,” yells Mulan from underneath the car.

“Bag of bricks is a good sound plan,” responds Regina, panicking.

Mulan hears the beeping start and sees the bomb displaying a countdown…. 1:57. “Alright, we have two minutes.”

“Two minutes!?”

“Shut up!  Alright, there are wires running into the dashboard system that’s probably how it’s picking up the pressure sensors in the seat.”

“It’s--it’s uh a computer bomb I know computers. We need to restart the system,” concludes Regina

“Want me to kick it?”

“I’m going to die,” deadpans Regina. “No, just--look duck up under the hood and tell me how it’s attached to the electrical system.”

Regina pops the hood and Mulan quickly runs to look under the hood.

“I got it. There are a lot of wires here.”

...1:00...

“Yes, there are a lot of wires. It’s a computer,” sasses Regina. Regina takes a deep breath and pulls out the two wires usually used to hotwire a car with and strips them down about an inch. “Look. What you got to do Mulan, you have to yank the wires at the same time I reboot the system and trick the bomb into thinking it’s gone off.”

“What’s our margin for error here?”

“About half a second.”

“Run the bag of bricks by me again.”

“You ready?” asks Regina

“No!”

“Are you ready?” asks Regina again

“Yeah,” says Mulan rather reluctantly

...0:20…

“Go!” yells Regina. Regina swipes the wires together and Mulan yanks the wires from out underneath the hood. Regina makes a mad dash out of the car. The car doesn’t go off. 

“Ha! Age of the geek baby,” says Regina relieved.

Mulan cuts the bomb out from underneath the car. “Souvenir,” says Mulan before pretending to throw the bomb at Regina.

“NO!,” yells Regina flinching. 

Mulan chuckles. 

“Asshole,” says Regina before walking off.

“Wait where are you going? We still have to search the car.”

“I’m gonna go and freshen up a little bit. Maybe cry a little.”

Suddenly a black Caddilac Escalade screeches around the counter before coming to a complete stop. 

“Old friends,” Mulan says, recognizing the Latinx men who get out of the Escalade. Suddenly another car comes barreling around the counter from the other direction in a silver 300. 

“And new ones,” adds Regina gesturing to the car realizing they are now boxed in. Three men with guns exit both cars. The short curly-haired Latinx man from before recognizes Regina and Mulan from the bar. He approaches them, cocks his gun, and points it at the duo. 

“You two you with Hurley? Where’s my money?”

The leader of the second set of goons raises his gun as well. “You have five seconds to give me my money or you die.”

“Fellas, Fellas, we are from the same boat,” begins Regina. “I come to collect my money from the bastard Hurley.”

“Four,” counts the Korean gang leader.

“You think I’m playing with you?”

“Three”

“Keep counting.I’ll put a bullet in your head.” asks the short curly-haired gang leader who turns his guns on the other gang. 

“We all want the same thing lets just be professional about this,” says Regina

“Two”

“Say one puta,” says the short curly-haired man.

“You are Mexican, and you are Korean underneath we are all the same person,” says Regina.

“Alright we got your bomb man right here,” says Mulan holding up the bomb.

“Chileans,” says the Korean leader

“Never mess with Chileans,” says the Mexican leader. 

“You mean there are more guys that want this dude dead?” whispers Regina into Mulan's ear.

“Now I've got it on a one-second delay that gives me just enough time to make it underneath that truck. Now, maybe I will make it. Maybe I don’t. But one thing is for certain you all die. Now, let’s just calm down and let’s back away.”

The Koreans leave first followed closely by the Mexicans.

“Hey, Mulan when you said you were going to dive under that truck you were going to take me with you right?”

“Sure.” 

“I’m serious Mulan, don’t play with me.”

  
  
  



	3. 48 Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or plotline.   
> All mistakes are my own.

**[The next morning]**

Snow walks into Hurley and David’s room and pulls open the curtains. The sunlight wakes David from his sleep. 

“Where’s Hurley?” asks Snow

“Hurley? I don’t know he’s probably leading the codependent wing in a rousing game of Simon says,” responds David.

“You look awful.”

“Thank you,” deadpans David. After a pause of silence, David speaks again, “Do you need something, Snow?”

“Yeah, Mulan and Regina are on their way over.”

“Okay.” David attempts to get out of bed but groans in pain and falls over.

“Whoa,” says Snow as she catches David. “You’re shaking.”

“I know. They have the air-conditioning on so high.”

“You haven’t had a drink in 48 hours this is withdrawal.”

David chuckles, “Snow, I’m not in rehab. I’m pretending to be in rehab.”

“Ah, well congratulations you’ve got me fooled.”

At the front desk with Regina, Mulan hits the bell and waits for the receptionist to acknowledge her. 

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m here to see a patient of yours, Mr. Tom Baker.”

“What’s your relationship?” asks the receptionist.

“Why?”

“The Second Act has a strict policy that only family members can see patients. We want to make sure outside influences don’t hamper our clients' recovery.”

“I think that’s an excellent policy. I’m Tom’s sister, Helen. Hi,” says Mulan before kissing the back of the receptionist's hand with a flirty smile. 

“I’m with her,” adds Regina

“So you’re a friend of--”

“No, no I am with her,” corrects Regina before grabbing Mulan’s hand. “She thinks the flirting makes me jealous but it doesn’t. You know but if you were like, Jennifer Morrison or  Janelle Monáe or somebody then it’d destroy your happiness if it was the last thing I do.”

Regina hits the bell again and says to Mulan while pulling on her arm, “Bring your ass.”

Mulan and Regina meet with Snow and David in the day room. The group snags a couple of seats in the corner. Mulan quickly catches David and Snow up to speed.

“So it wasn’t just a charity that Hurley ripped off,” concludes Mulan.

“It was like the axis of scumbags,” adds Regina

“North Korea is a counterfeiting center so they must begin using Hurley to launder their dirty paper,” says David

“Yeah, well, this Mexican cat had an accent like he was from the Oaxaca region. He’s probably sicario. Hitman for the drug cartel.”

David sighs and rubs his face. “Yeah, well, this is great. The only guy who knows where the money is is a compulsive liar, so…” David groans and grabs his head.

“You alright?” asks Mulan.

“Yeah,” says David breathing hard. David gets up and starts to pace.

“We’ve come up blank on the car, the condo, the office. That means somebody else is holding the money for him. Mulan, we need to learn about the people in his life. So I’ll get the name and you guys follow up,” instructs Snow.

“What about the gangs?” asks Regina

“We -- We still have, you know, an advantage because we still have Hurley, so…” says David.

**[Later the same morning]**

The group of patients has once again gathered in the “Day Room” Emma is currently taking.

“I thought my foster parents wanted me so they could get money from the state but now I realize they didn’t love each other. They just wanted someone who would love them.”

“Like they needed you to fill in the gaps for their relationship,” adds Hurley 

“Exactly! But when that didn’t happen they just withdrew which led me to steal.”

“Yeah,” agrees Hurley

“Wait. Didn’t you say your parents were rich?” asks Marcy

“Yes, because underneath their trailer they found gold.”

“Woah,” says Hurley.

“Okay, thank you, Rose. In the five minutes, we have left I’d like to talk about the healing power of apology.”

Sam begins to mumble in response to Snow. Emma and Hurley nod and agree with him. 

“Why don’t you just speak?” asks David but he is ignored.

“Thank you Sam that was touching. And very big of you. Alright, let’s go around the room. Who wants to start?” asks Snow, looking at David. Hurley raises his hand. “Tom.”

“What?”

“Tom, who do you think you might have hurt with your drinking?”

“Here we go again. Jack had his hand up.”

“Are you ready to say sorry to them?”

“I don’t think I need to apologize for drinking. I think maybe I should apologize for not drinking, maybe I’m a bigger bastard sober than I am drunk.”

“If this is you sober than hell yeah,” says Marcy

“Thank you, Marcy,” says David before sticking his hand out for a fist bump.

“I have to say I’m a little disappointed in you, Tom. I thought you’d set a better example for Jack here. I’m sure he has a few people he’d like to say sorry to.”   
  


“More than a few,” says Hurley.

“Maybe they’ve had to shoulder his responsibilities, maybe he’s burdened them in some way,” says Snow.

Hurley puts his head in his hands in shame. 

“Jack, look at me. I want you to take this pen and pad and write a list of all these people and go away and call them, apologize to them and relieve them of their burdens and yours.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Across town, Mulan and Regina are following up with the people Hurley is calling. Currently, they are back at the bar they originally spotted Hurley at talking to the woman they saw him with.

“He just called. Sounded kind of rough.”

“We saw how he was treating you at the bar the other day, and …” Mulan trails off.

“Oh that, no. He wasn’t harassing me, he bought me a car. He was trying to convince me to take it.”

“He bought you a car?” asks Regina.

“Mine broke down. Jack was just trying to help.”

“Thank you for your time,” says Mulan.

Regina and Mulan climb back into Regina's black BMW.

“Well, there’s a dead end. Where is the next stop?” asks Mulan.

“Strip club, Gary’s Hideaway,” replies Regina before pulling out of the parking lot.

**[ Leverage HQ, Later that day]**

“He’s not all bad. He did give some of the money to people in need,” says Regina right before Snow’s phone begins to ring.

“Have you ever noticed how all bad guys know at least one stripper?” asks Mulan. 

“Hello?” says Snow on her phone.

“And you know at least a hundred, so what does that say about you?”

“I’ll be right there,”

“I’m a bad guy,” says Mulan with a shrug.

“What? What’s wrong?” asks Regina once the duo notices her leaving.

“It’s the rehab center. He tried to go over the wall,” replies Snow 

When Snow makes it back to the rehab center Dr. Frank is waiting on her.

“Sorry to bother you Dr. Tanner but I checked your notes. He seems like a deeply troubled man. Do you want us to restrain him?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Snow reaches where they are holding David and asks, “Are you ready to go back to your room now?”

While leading an angry David back to his room, Snow passes Hurley on the phone.

“Anyway, Pam, I just wanted to say how sorry I am for all those times when you had to come to pick me up in the middle of the night when I couldn’t drive. I don’t deserve you.”

On the other side of the phone Pam is in Hurley’s old office. “You listen to the doctor’s and get better okay. Yes, I forgive you. Bye.” Once off the phone Pam addresses the Korean men searching Hurley’s files. 

“I’m sorry what part of the S.E.C did you say you were from?”

The Korean gang leader chuckles and replies, “The San Francisco office. Now did Mr. Hurley happened to mention what facility he was at?”

Back in David’s room Snow and David are talking.

“I’m fine,” assures David.

“You tried to scale a wall with a mop and a bedsheet,” deadpans Snow.

“I’ve been -- I’ve been locked up with the guy 24/7! I just needed a little air.”

“You needed a drink.”

“More than one,” deadpans David while pacing.

“We’re in the middle of a con. What the hell were you thinking, David?”

“Just-- Just tell me about our guy. How are we doing?”

“We need to talk about this.”

“No! We don’t need to talk. You want to talk. I’m fine. Now, just read me in.”

“You have a problem.”

“Snow if you want to help me, you want to help me. For the love of God give me something to do.”

“All right. It turns out that Hurley isn’t as bad as we thought. He spends as much money on helping people as he does feeding his addiction.”

“Define helping.”

“Random acts of kindness. He tried to buy a waitress a car and paid for some woman’s college tuition. There’s more to this guy than we thought.”

“He stole from a charity. Come on, what more do you need to --”

“Yeah, I’m not saying we should pat him on the back or anything,” interrupts Snow. 

“Listen to me, the guy, he’s an addict. He’s -- He knows how to manipulate people. My father was an addict, my grandfather. I know how these people operate.”

Snow stands with watery eyes and says, “I’m just going to let you think about that for a minute.” Then turns and leaves the room. 

“I like this character. It feels more real than the others.”

“Gold.”

“Company sent me. Worried about you. A place like this isn’t cheap. We’ll have to take care of your bill.”

“Is this a joke?” asks David.

“Treating your son’s cancer that’s something we wouldn’t pay for. That’s money down the rat hole. But you drinking yourself to death… that’s covered. With a small deductible of course.”

David swings at Gold’s face but instead punches the plaster wall. “Ouch, fuck!”

“The first step is admitting you’re powerless,” says Sterling from David’s bed. He has changed into the Second Act patient uniform of sweats and a grey t-shirt. “Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think that you’re there yet.”

“Get out!” yells David. David pulls back his arm ready to hit Gold when he disappears. 

“You know how to get rid of me,” says Sterling back in his suit in one of the armchairs across the room tapping a scotch glass with his fingers. “But that would violate the 12 steps would it.”

David stares at the amber liquid in the glass. He can taste the aged scotch sliding down his throat. He missed the burn of a too big sip and the warmth that spreads throughout his body. David finally realizes he is hallucinating and lays down in his bed with the shakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Drop a kudos and comment. The next and final chapter will be posted tomorrow.


	4. Finding the Money

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me for being late. I got super baked yesterday and was too busy eating to do anything else.   
> Disclaimer: I own nothing and nobody.  
> Italics represent past actions!

When Hurley enters the room David rises from his bed, grabs Hurley, and slams him against the wall.

“Where’s the money?”

“I don’t have any money. They took my wallet when I came in. Are you okay Tom? You’re not thinking about breaking out again are you?”

David throws Hurley on his bed. “Stop with the jokes and the pandering and pretending you care about people. It doesn’t work on me. I can see right through it.”

“You need a little step five,” says Hurley before holding out his arms and attempting to hug David. David shoves Hurley back down onto his bed. 

“Shut up!”

“What do you want from me?”

“The truth!”

“Okay, okay. I was never in Beirut.” David winds up to hit Hurley. “ Wait! You want to know why I’m here. My wife left me. That's when everything changed.”

“It wasn’t just scumbags you took money from, was it?”

“Alright, Alright. I stole from a charity!” admits Hurley. “It’s not what you think it--it was going to be my big fix. Michelle is this woman who works for this food bank. Only she doesn’t do it for a high like me. She does it because she’s a good person. I wanted to help her. So I cleaned out her account. With the tricks, I have learned I could quadruple her money.”

“You were going to give the money back? You were?” 

“Tell me something Tom, lying, cheating, stealing if you're doing it to help someone doesn't that make it okay?”

Meanwhile, in the hallway, the Korean gang members are looking for Hurley. 

“Split up. Check every room in every hallway,” commands the leader. 

As the gang members are conducting their search Emma is on her way back from the cafeteria. The gang members storm past Emma and she bumps into one of the men. Emma keeps walking until she looks down and realizes she lifted a gun off of one of those men. Emma quickly hurries to David’s room. Emma enters David’s room and quickly shuts the door behind her. 

“I didn’t mean to,” says Emma

“What’s wrong?” asks David

“It was just instinct,” Emma reveals the gun she lifted. “I stole it from a man in the hall.” 

“Woah”

“Okay we have to get out of here,” says David.

“Why?” asks Hurley

David opens the door and takes a quick peek down the hallway. He sees two of the Korean gang members. David quickly shuts the door and walks over to Emma. Hurley, curious, opens the door and repeats David’s actions. 

“Okay yeah, we gotta go,” says Hurley.

“Okay, Emma, get into the air vent, out to the front gate-,” begins David.

“No,” interrupts Emma.

“No? What do you mean no?”

“I feel like I’m making real progress here,” says Emma.

“Listen, I need you to docs, okay?” asks David while placing his hands on Emma’s shoulders. Emma looks down at David’s hands on her shoulders with a smile. 

“What?” asks David.

“ You don’t touch me. Or any of us. It's the whole in your heart Tom, it doesn’t allow you to get close to people.”

“She’s right,” agrees Hurley.

David rolls his eyes, sighs, then takes the gun from Emma’s hand. A plan hitting David’s brain, David turns and shoots the lock off the window in his room. David runs over and yells “Let’s go!”

Hurley helps David open the window and the two men escape the building leaving Emma behind. Once free David calls Leverage HQ. Snow, Mulan, and Regina pick up the phone. 

“Hurley says the money is in his car,” says David over the phone.

“Impossible we searched every inch of that thing?” says Mulan.

“Not every inch”

“How did you break him?” asks Snow.

“Oh, well…” David trails off. The music from the taco truck behind David is heard through the phone. 

“You took him out for tacos? David, you’re enabling him,” says Snow. 

“Woah, Woah. I haven’t slept in three days, I had a showdown with two different gangs who now know my face, I sat on a bomb. And all this could’ve been avoided if you gave the man a taco?” sasses Regina.

“Why are we even helping this guy, huh? Why don’t we hand him over to the cops?” asks Mulan

“I’m not saying we throw the guy a parade but if we don’t help him, he’s gonna be dead by the end of the day,” responds David. Snow, Regina, and Mulan make eye contact. 

Regina sighs, “So what’s the plan?”

“What did you girls do with the Chilean bombs after you disarmed it?” asks David.

“Uh...why?” asks Regina.

[Later the same day, the parking garage downtown]

At the same parking garage that Regina and Mulan found Hurley’s car sits a black Cadillac Escalade. David and Hurley pull up behind the Escalade in a black beamer. The Korean gang pulls up in front of the Escalade in a silver Chrysler. Everyone gets out of their respective cars.

“I’m gonna die,” says Hurley as he and David approach the two gangs trying to kill him.

“Relax they’re not gonna kill you until after they get their money,” says David.

“You come empty-handed? You said you have the money,” says the short curly haired Mexican hitman.

“Where is my money?” asks the Korean gang leader. 

“I’ve got it. It’s just going to take me a second to get it.” 

The gang leaders nod in agreement. Hurley and David make their way to Hurley’s parked car. Hurley opens the door and sits in his seat. 

“Hey does anybody else here that beeping noise?” asks Hurley

“Yeah,” says David

Hurley begins to exit the car “I think I’m just going to-”

“Wait!” yells the Mexican hitman. “Look underneath the car,” instructs the man. 

One of the other Mexican hitmen that has a ponytail goes to the passenger side of the car and lies down on the ground. The man sees a bomb “La bomba!” 

“Wait did he just say bomb?” asks Hurley

The man stands up and begins yelling “La bomba! Treinta segundos! Treinta segundos!

“Thirty seconds, I didn’t want to know that. Why didn’t I take German in high school.”

“Just shut up for a second,” says David

“We don’t have a second, get out of here. GO!” says Hurley before pushing David away from the car. David quickly turns and runs to a safe distance like the Korean and Mexican gang members are doing. The truck explodes and everyone feels the explosion. 

“Chileans?” asks the Mexican hitman.

“They must’ve figured out where the money was, wanted to keep it all for themselves. That’s what I would do.” replies the Korean gang member.

“My boss will not be pleased. Vamos!” The two gangs and their members quickly load back into their cars and pull off. As the cars disappear from view Snow runs to David.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I wasn't expecting an explosion that big,” says David.

“Sorry about that. That’s what happens when you use other people’s equipment,” jokes Regina.

_ Elliot attaches the bomb from earlier back to Hurley’s car while Regina syncs the portable detonator. _

“Just glad it wasn’t me in that car this time,” says Regina. 

“How’s our boy? Hey Hurley how are you doing?” asks David.

Hurley walks up to the group scratching his head. “I-I’m not entirely sure what just happened.”

_ Hurley pushes David away from the car. Hurley hears a rolling sound and looks down outside of the driver's side window and sees Snow on a mechanics creeper on the ground. _

_ “Dr. Tanner?” says Hurley confused.  _

_ “Quick Hurley jump on. Let’s go. Now!” yells Snow. A few cars down Mulan is laying on the ground feet propped against a car pulling the rope attached to the creepers. Snow continues to slide under cars and another mechanics creeper for Hurley appears. Hurley opens the driver's door and jumps onto the creeper. When Mulan pulls them both to her location a safe distance away Regina detonates the bomb. _

“Y-you and Tom worked together to help me. You must care about me. I mean for you guys to work together. You don’t even like each other,” says Hurley.

“Well actually we-uh we-uh…,” starts Snow

“We get along just fine. Sometimes you know in the heat of the moment in therapy you say things you don’t mean,” interrupts David.

“You mean what you say!” argues Snow

“Hey Hurley, that was a pretty wild ride, right?” asks Regina

“Yeah, except for the wild goose chase you send us on. I checked every inch of that car, there is no money,” says Mulan

“Actually…” Hurley rolls one of his car wheels over to the group. Mulan takes the wheel and places it on the hood of David’s car. “Steel belted radials.”

Mulan pulls out her pocket knife and cuts into the wheel revealing all the cash they have been looking for. 

“What do you think?” asks Hurley.

“I think you may have a knack for this,” admits Snow. 

[The next day, Leverage HQ]

Hurley is clean-shaven and dressed in a grey suit. Hurley hands a bag of cash over to Michelle. “Sorry about the rubber smell, it should go away after a while.”

Michelle takes the bag and gives David and Snow hugs. Hurley holds his arms out to be hugged as well but instead, he is just ignored. 

“Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means,” says Michelle.

“I’ll help you zip that up then walk you out,” says Snow.

“Just take the win,” says David to Hurley while Snow leads Michelle out of the office. Regina comes around the corner with a manila folder. David hands it to Hurley.

“What’s this?” Hurley asks.

“That’s your new identity. Drivers license, passport, birth certificate.”

“You’re library card, Netflix membership, Sam’s club. Oh, I got you three months free at Planet Fitness. Maybe work off some of those tacos.”

“You guys didn’t have to do all this,” says Hurley.

“Well, actually we did. Jack Hurley is dead, we killed him. So this is your chance to kind of start over.”

“Wow. Do you think Michelle will forgive me if she gets the payout from my life insurance policy?” 

“Yeah, why don’t we just, uh, go with the win? We’re giving you a second chance so don’t screw it up. If you do, I promise we’ll know. Train ticket.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m playing it straight from now on. As soon as I get to, uh… Rosarito, I’m going to find the nearest support group. Promise. Thanks for everything Tom and hey if you ever need a sponsor I’m here for you brother.”

Hurley leaves Leverage HQ. David sighs when the door closes behind him. “Okay, so we have one more piece of business left to do, right?”

Back at the Second Act Rehabilitation Facility, Emma is playing Pictionary with Sam and Marcy. She has drawn a floor plan layout on the paper. Sam and Marcy are stumped but keep guessing. Dr. Frank and Snow walk in the room and Snow immediately knows what Emma drew. 

“Cairo Museum, the antiquities floor.”

“Finally,” yells Emma in excitement. “This is the alarm room right here.”

“You’re sure this is for the best?” asks Dr. Frank

“Absolutely. The second Act isn’t the right place for her. She needs to be around people who better understand the issues she’s struggling with. People more like her.”

After all the release forms are filled out Emma is given her things and released. When outside the building Emma sees the team waiting on her. “Hi!” she yells. “I missed you guys,” says Emma jumping on Mulan’s back and sending a wink over to Regina.

“When do the happy pills wear off?” asks Mulan

“Usually about 24 hours,” replies David.

Emma gets off of Mulan's back and runs over to Regina and hugs her. “I missed you.”

“That’s too bad I kinda like this Emma,” says Regina from the hug. 

"You like all versions of Emma," comments Mulan.

Regina sinks even more into Emma's arms and says "Yeah, but naked and satisfied will be my favorite."

"Can't wait," whispers Emma before breaking from the hug and throwing both arms over the shoulders of Mulan and Regina.

Emma, Regina, and Mulan walk to the car together with Emma’s arm around them both. 

“Ready to finish what you started?” asks Snow

“I’m ready for a drink,” replies David chuckling. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the fic. Drop a kudos and comment, tell me what you think. Stay tuned for more "episodes".

**Author's Note:**

> Go read the other works in this remix if you haven't already. If you have then bookmarked the series and drop comments and kudos.


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